ED Nursing Archives – July 1, 2007
July 1, 2007
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Don't let emergency patients be harmed by unsafe storage of meds
To control a patient's blood pressure, an ED nurse began an infusion with a bag of dopamine from an automated dispensing cabinet (ADC), but the nurse failed to realize that instead of the usual concentration of 400 mg/250 mL, the bag contained 400 mg/500 mL that had accidentally been stocked there. -
What surveyors asked ED nurses about drug storage
Surveyors walking through an ED see medication by a patient's bedside table with no staff in the vicinity. Or a medication is lying in plain sight on a counter by the nurse's station, and visitors have full access to it. -
What surveyors want to see for review of med orders
Most ED nurses breathed a sign of relief after The Joint Commission approved an interim action, effective Jan. 1, 2007, that changed the requirement for pharmacy review of ED medication orders (element of performance [EP] 1 for standard 4.10 of medication management). -
EDs are using new video tool instead of interpreters
A 40-year-old man approached triage nurses at Marion (OH) General Hospital's ED clutching his chest, but he didn't speak a word of English. -
Pediatric sedation course make procedures safer
Would you like to increase your knowledge and confidence in caring for children undergoing procedural sedation? -
Stop delays in treatment of sickle cell pain patients
Imagine being in horrible pain and knowing exactly what medication you need to control it, coming to an ED . . . and waiting an hour and a half for relief. Researchers recently looked at 612 patient visits for sickle cell disease (SCD) having an acute pain episode, and they found that took an average of 90 minutes for administration of an initial analgesic. -
Update on antibiotics for ED pneumonia patients
If your ED has been struggling with The Joint Commission's requirement that antibiotics be given within four hours of presentation for patients diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), you now have some more breathing room.